Relationships Key for Williams II
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The question comes in a Henke Hall setting -- why is Dexter Williams II a quarterback? What drew him to the position?
The redshirt sophomore pauses. He’s 20 minutes removed from an Indiana practice that might -- or might not -- signal he is the starting quarterback. Head coach Tom Allen is not ready to publicly declare whether Williams or Connor Bazelak will start Saturday at Michigan State, or if a rotation will be used.
That has no impact at this moment. Williams considers the question and delivers an answer resonating with maturity and perspective.
“I’ve always felt I could talk to others well,” he says. “Playing quarterback, you have to build relationships. The more you give, the more you get from guys.”
This is an uncommon answer, but then, Williams is proving he’s an uncommon player, and that goes beyond his ability to run and pass the Hoosiers to success.
He hasn’t done that enough, of course. He’s barely two games into a college career. But he has shown flashes of what he might become.
Yes, it requires work, film study, and time. Lots of time, lots of reps, lots of discipline and perseverance.
Lots of leadership.
Williams calls running back Jaylin Lucas and receiver Donaven McCulley two of his best friends on the team. That could be a Saturday factor.
“It’s building those relationships and giving what you get,” he says.
Athleticism once set Williams apart. In high school in Georgia, he also played basketball and baseball, and ran track after baseball.
Still, quarterback was the goal. He found inspiration in NFL African-American quarterbacks Donavan McNabb and Michael Vick. He developed the dual-threat ability so stressful to a defense.
But beyond that, there was leadership and charisma.
“There are certain things that you have innately that attracts people to you,” Allen says. “He's one of those guys. I think everybody is pulling for Dexter. That's probably the best way to say it.
“He's a high-quality person. He's experienced some challenges, and that causes guys to rally around you.”
Adversity hit with unexpected suddenness. It was a spring practice months before the start of the 2021 season. Williams was running, made a cut and the ACL tore. There was no contact or any apparent reason.
“I tried to make a play, like I had a thousand times before,” Williams says. “I put my foot in the ground, and things didn’t go my way.”
Allen couldn’t believe it.
“It was like, he did what? He was running to his right, he planted and kept to his left, and that’s when he popped it. At the time, we didn’t know. He limped off, but we never thought it would have been that type of injury.”
Surgery and months of grueling rehab followed. Williams had already spent one redshirt season without playing. Now, it would be a second.
“I remember being heart-broken knowing I’d have to miss the whole season,” he says. “Knowing that my development would get pushed back. That motivated me to keep going. I treated rehab like practice because that’s all I could do.”
The challenge was mental as well as physical.
“The hardest part was staying locked in,” he says. “It’s easy to say, you’ve got 300 days of rehab, but if you think about that, it’s a lot.
“It’s coming in every day with the right mindset. Getting yourself right. It was on me to fix my leg. That’s the approach I took.”
Once Williams was right physically, he addressed position-specific demands.
“Just getting in the reps,” he says. “Playing quarterback is repetition. It’s getting comfortable within the (offensive) scheme. I was missing the reps, missing being with my teammates and building that chemistry. Nothing can replace that timing.”
The injury set Williams back in development and on the depth chart. He began last spring third on the depth chart behind Bazelak, a Missouri transfer, and Jack Tuttle. Playing prospects for this season seemed unlikely.
Williams could have transferred. So many do in these transfer portal times. He did not, and that might make all the difference.
“A lot of guys are not willing to wait their turn,” Allen says. “The fact he stayed here and has been true to us, the players respect that about him. They enjoy being around him.”
Williams’ first collegiate chance came when Bazelak was too banged up to play against Penn State, and Tuttle got hurt in the second quarter.
With little practice preparation, and basically three years since he’d last played in a game, Williams came in and threw two interceptions, but also showed enough to get an Ohio State opportunity.
Against a powerful Buckeye defense, Williams sparked IU to a pair of touchdowns, big given all the offensive struggles. He had a pair of first-down-generating 16-yard runs. He completed a 48-yard pass.
Even better, Williams didn’t throw an interception or fumble.
Still, 6-for-19 isn’t nearly good enough in an era when 60-percent accuracy is a minimum for good quarterback play.
Williams is aware.
“We looked at the film, and I don’t think I had any misreads, but I had a couple of throws I wish I could have back. Things like footwork and timing and getting with the receivers need to get better.
“One time I had an idea of what I thought a receiver would do. He had another idea. That comes with reps. We’ll figure it out.”
Allen saw Williams rushing and not setting his feet on some throws, not surprising given the quality of the defense, Williams’ inexperience, and the stress that comes from playing in front of 103,000 fans at Ohio Stadium.
“I get it, you're out there, it's a big stage and he is young,” Allen says.
“It’s being able to process everything and then get your feet right and then make throws because obviously he has arm talent. It’s being more consistent in that area because as you continue to grow and develop, those things grow with you.”
As for the leadership aspect, which is crucial for a quarterback, Allen says it’s earned by work ethic, by putting in the time in the weight room, by conditioning, by being a good person who cares and demands.
“He will encourage,” Allen says. “He will challenge. He has a great personality. He's an articulate guy who is not afraid to speak. He loves his teammates and they love him back.”
Starter or backup, Williams will get a chance to help lead IU (3-7) against a 5-5 Michigan State team with bowl aspirations.
“I’m confident in my abilities,” he says. “I’m confident in this team and in these coaches that we’ll get the job done this game and the last one (against Purdue). Our guys have confidence in me. I have confidence in them.”